


Heart to Heart

by YuugiMuffin



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: M/M, rivalshipping - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-16
Updated: 2020-01-16
Packaged: 2021-02-27 06:06:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,113
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22282342
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YuugiMuffin/pseuds/YuugiMuffin
Summary: Even when it feels like he’s dying, Seto’s heart still beats.
Relationships: Kaiba Seto/Mutou Yuugi
Comments: 6
Kudos: 53





	Heart to Heart

**Author's Note:**

> more soft rivalshipping because i love them

It’s so hard to breathe. So damn hard to breathe. It feels like his chest is being crushed and torn open all at once, and all he knows is that  _ he can’t breathe _ .

It’s dark, he can’t see his damn hands in front of his face, but Seto knows that he’s not alone. He can feel them around him, striking him with tails and fists and probably teeth, too. He can’t tell, but it’s not fun. It’s not fun and it hurts.

He tries to fight, but every time, it’s useless. He’s just a man, and these are monsters. His monsters, yes, but they’re not on his side. 

Claws and disgusting slimy tendrils drag across his skin, brush across his cheeks, and he gags at the sensation. Blood trickles down his face, but that’s the least of his problems, because the monsters are retreating now. They’re leaving him alone, and that always means the worst is yet to come.

He wipes his cheek, smears the blood across his hand and face, and looks around, though it’s futile. He still can’t see. It’s so dark. It’s so damn dark, just like he is, and it’s stifling. It’s drowning him.

He still can’t breathe.

There’s a vicious flapping noise, like the wing snap of a bat the size of a house, and his stomach drops (probably literally, if the searing heat in his abdomen means anything). Another flap, and a gust of wind hits his face. It whips his hair around and he flinches at the sound of a large body dropping against the ground.

The dragon gives a terrible roar. He flinches again.

She’s here, and she’s angry. Seto takes a step away from the hot breath fanning over him, but there’s an invisible barrier keeping him trapped. Not that he could run from the dragon in the first place.

Her blue eyes shine in the darkness, glowing with menace but not illuminating anything other than their hateful gaze. He stares up into them and feels her heartbreak and rage. His own eyes water, but he doesn’t let the tears fall. He won’t, even if he should.

She roars again, taking another intimidating step forward. He can’t look away.

Slowly, the form of his Blue Eyes comes from the shadows, a looming beast circled by a backdrop of nothing. She stares, crouching to his level and shooting a huff of air directly into his face, and still he doesn’t look away. In his peripheral vision, Seto can see a gaping tear spanning across the chest of his dragon. A tear he made with his own hands as he ripped her apart. He can see her heart thundering behind her fractured ribcage.

He deserves what he gets, and he doesn’t look away. He keeps his eyes on hers even as she rakes her vicious claws against his own chest, even as she pierces his heart, even as everything goes black once again.

And he wakes up.

His chest is still tight, desperate to bring air into his heaving lungs. He clutches at the soft pajama shirt frantically, attempting to tear it off of himself, but one of his hands is missing and his nightmares are coming to life and-

“Seto…?” A small voice from beside him whispers his name and plunges him back into reality.

He’s not dead. He’s not dying. He’s… okay.

“Yugi.” He answers, still so breathless, “Go back to sleep.”

But Yugi is sitting up, rubbing one eye and gazing at him in worry with the other. 

Seto gets his hand back. Yugi had been laying on it, and it’s buzzing annoyingly as sensation returns to his fingers. He flexes them and wrinkles his nose in distaste as the tingles travel along his forearm.

“Did you have a nightmare?” Yugi asks.

“It’s fine.”

Yugi gives a yawn and leans forward to nuzzle his face into Seto’s chest. The contact makes each inhale so much easier, somehow, and Seto sighs in relief. His lungs aren’t torn, and his ribs aren’t broken. He’s okay.

“You can talk about it, if you want.” Yugi tells him, “You know I’m always here to listen.”

Seto looks down at the messy head of purple and black hair, “It’s always the same, there’s no reason to talk about it.”

“Did you do anything different this time?”

“Why would I?” Seto snorts, “If I’m gonna die, I might as well die with dignity.”

“Dignity.” Yugi sighs and presses further into Seto’s skin, as if he’s trying to meld them together. “It’s not undignified to be scared.”

“It’s not helpful, either.” 

“Maybe the Blue Eyes wants you to say something.” Yugi says, still partially asleep.

Seto thinks that that’s a stupid idea. She doesn’t want to talk, she wants to destroy. He knows, because he’s the same way. Or, he was the same way, when the dreams started. When he had actually died at the hands of Yugi’s other self.

He’d wanted to break and hurt and destroy, and that’s why he knows that the dragon wants the same.

He asks, “What could I possibly say? I killed her, she killed me.”

Yugi seems to be more awake now, and Seto thinks maybe he took longer than he’d thought to respond.

“Maybe she wants you to apologize.”

“You’re soft. An apology won’t keep me alive.”

“You’re not dead.” Yugi says, voice dropping to a whisper. He moves his head away from Seto’s chest, but travels a hand up Seto’s abdomen to rest it above his heart. “You’re alive. Feel.”

Seto does as he’s told, resting a hand over his chest, and curling his fingers around Yugi’s smaller ones. Though Yugi is slightly in the way, he can still feel his heartbeat, fluttering rapidly from the aftershocks of his nightmare. Yes, he’s alive.

But not because his heart is still beating.

He lifts Yugi’s hand and kisses the palm of it.

“Not that.” Yugi giggles, “Your heart.”

Seto looks into Yugi’s sweet, violet gaze, “Yes.” He agrees, and kisses Yugi’s wrist.

“No, you’re not getting it.” 

Yugi shifts under the duvet so that he’s sitting on Seto’s legs. He takes Seto’s hand into his own, rather than the other way around, and presses the palm of it directly into Seto’s chest.

“See? Your heart is beating. You’re alive.”

Seto offers him the slightest of smiles, “I get it, Yugi. I’m alive. And it’s because of my heart.”

Yugi makes an agreeing noise and grins with his teeth. Seto repositions their hands so his is once again on top. He laces his fingers through Yugi’s and kisses his way down Yugi’s forearm, stopping at the crook of his elbow. 

“You’re my heart.”


End file.
